Egypt

2011

New York, April 13, 2011--A new requirement by the Egyptian military that local print media obtain
approval for all mentions ofthe
armed forces before publication is the
single worst setback for press freedom in Egypt since the fall of President
Hosni Mubarak in February, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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New York,
April 11, 2011--Continuing a weeks-long pattern of seizing journalists covering
the Libyan conflict, the government of Muammar Qaddafi is detaining two more
television journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. And in
Egypt, in a serious setback for press freedom under the transitional government,
a court has sentenced a blogger to a three-year prison term for "insulting the
military."

New York, April 8, 2011--The Committee to
Protect Journalists is concerned about the fate of American freelance
journalist Matthew VanDyke, who has been missing in Libya since mid-March,
according to his family and news reports. He is among 15reporters either missing
or in government custody in Libya.

New York, April 6, 2011--More than20
foreign journalists were told that they would have to leave Libya within 24
hours, National Public Radio said today. NPR reported that Libyan
authorities asked journalists from different international news outlets to
leave the country. The media outlets include Britain's Channel 4, CNN, Fox News,
The Independent, Italian TV, ITV, Le Figaro, Los Angeles Times,
The Times of London, NBC
News, The New York Times, RAI, RTL, and The Sunday Times of London. The government has also decided to not issue new visas for
journalists who wish to cover the unfolding conflict, NPR's Lourdes
Garcia-Navarro reported from Tripoli.

New York, April 1, 2011--Al-Jazeera said today that Libyan
authorities re-arrested four of its journalists just hours after they had been released. A Syrian journalist who spoke critically of Libyan government
policies was also reported in state custody. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the
ongoing attacks on the press in Libya,
and calls on authorities to immediately release all journalists in custody.

New York,
March 30, 2011--A CNN crew was detained today in Manama while interviewing a
prominent Bahraini human rights defender, according to a Twitter posting by the
network and a CPJ interview. The detentions come amid a recent series of
repressive actions by the Bahraini government, which included today's arrest of
a well-known blogger. Anti-press actions were also reported in Egypt, Syria,
and Libya, CPJ research shows.

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For the millions of non-Arabic
speakers around the world who followed Egypt's revolution live one journalist
stood out--Ayman Mohyeldin of Al-Jazeera English. Mohyeldin, 32, used his
knowledge of the region and of the West to make sense of the events unfolding
in Cairo's Tahrir Square for an international audience. He also witnessed the
unprecedented wave of assaults on journalists by supporters and hired thugs of
the crumbling Mubarak regime. Mohyeldin
was himself detained while reporting.

Mohyeldin visited CPJ's office in
New York March 23 to speak with supporters, friends and staff about the role of
the pan-Arab satellite channel since a Tunisian fruit-seller in the town of
Sidi Bouzid set himself on fire in December in frustration at the dead hand of
political repression.

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I've just returned from a hectic week at SXSW Interactive,
the annual gathering of digital technologists and creators in Austin, Texas.
Conferences like this are often moments of isolation from the rest of the
world, where attendees become consumed with the trivia of the event itself. But
because many of those attending SXSWi are prolific online journalists, bloggers,
and social media users, the conference's self-obsession doesn't stay confined
to Austin. One tech startup even offered a
browser plugin that would hide any Twitter with the
"#SXSW" tags to hide the constant chatter from the rest of the world.

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New York, March 9, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by an attack on the Ouzo
Hotel in the rebel-held city of Benghazi in eastern Libya on Tuesday. Unknown
assailants threw an explosive device into the hotel, which has been the primary
residence for journalists in the city, in the early morning hours, according to
international news reports. Foreign journalists have also been detained in
various towns in Libya by the authorities; all were eventually released. In
Yemen, a correspondent was attacked and threats were made against Al-Jazeera.
In Egypt, officers beat and injured a local journalist.

The right to receive and impart information is a fundamental
human right enshrined in the United Nations' Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, but in Zimbabwe,
watching news of North African and Middle East
protests apparently amounts to treason.